


All in the Family

by K_R_Closson



Category: Smallville, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Background Alex/Lex, Gen, It goes about as well as anyone would expect, Kara has to try to hide her powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 17:25:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8410240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_R_Closson/pseuds/K_R_Closson
Summary: Kara's family know how much she loves space so they decide to take her to Smallville, because is the meteor capital of the world. While she's there, she finds something even better than meteors. She finds her cousin Kal-El.





	

It’s the summer before Kara goes to college, and she, her mom, and her sister are going on a roadtrip to celebrate. Mom won’t tell them where they’re going so Kara and Alex sit in the back seat of their Toyota with a big map spread across their laps and try to guess.

They stop at the Grand Canyon where they take a bunch of pictures and do a little day hike, and Kara wishes she could turn herself invisible so she could fly over the canyon. It must look beautiful from the air. 

“Is this a tour of the southwest?” Alex asks when they go north to Bryce Canyon.

They make a few stops in Colorado and then they drive straight through until -

“Smallville?” Alex asks when they slow down to look at the big welcome sign.

“Meteor capital of the world,” Kara reads. She taps excitedly on Alex’s leg. “Meteors!”

“I know how much you love space,” her mom says. “And I thought it would be nice to see a quiet little town before you head off to National City.”

“I got a good scholarship,” Kara says.

It’s an old debate between them; Mom wanted Kara to go to her alma mater, but Kara’s ready for the big city, ready to go somewhere she can maybe get a little lost so she doesn’t have to hide who she is quite as much. 

“Even without listing that I’m an alien,” Kara adds. “That would be good for diversity, don’t you think?”

“I don’t think alien is the kind of diversity they’re looking for,” Alex says.

Alex’s already graduated college, but she’s working on her bioengineering degree  _ and  _ has a secret internship. Kara doesn’t really get what she’s studying, and she can’t imagine spending all of her time in a white lab coat stuck inside the basement of some building. Maybe it’s because of all the years she spent in her spaceship, but Kara wants to be surrounded by people.

She’s thinking a communications degree because one, she loves to talk, and two, she thinks she’d make a good PA. She’s friendly and helpful and it doesn’t matter that Alex says she’ll get eaten alive. 

Kara’s a Kryptonian, and she has to hide basically all of her powers, and she wants to work for someone who’s a human but superhuman. She wants to work for Anderson Cooper or Cat Grant. She wants to work for someone who’s making a difference, she wants to help them make that difference. The human way. The only way Kara’s allowed to do things.

She knows why she has to keep her powers secret, knows that not everyone would be as accepting of her as her family, but she still hates having to sit on the sidelines as people she could totally help get hurt.

“Hey you,” Alex says, flicking Kara’s ear. “You coming or what?”

Kara looks up to see that they’ve pulled up in front of a motel, and she scrambles out of the car. “Yep. Sorry.”

“Head up in the clouds?” Alex guesses.

Kara grins. “Always.”

Smallville’s an open place, a town full of concentrated buildings and then a bunch of farmland. Kara bets she’ll be able to sneak away for a late night fly. 

“I get first shower tomorrow morning,” Alex says once they’re in the motel room.

“I get first shower tonight then,” Kara says. 

“You have no protest from me,” their mom says. “When you get out, we’ll pick a movie to watch.”

Kara takes a short shower to wash off the long day in the car, and she puts her pajamas on once she’s done, a pair of shorts and tank top, because it’s hot. It’s when she picks up her necklace to put it back on that she realizes something’s different about it.

It’s  _ glowing _ .

Her mom gave her the necklace before she left, told her it would help her find Kal-El if they were ever separated, but she couldn’t figure it out when she got to Earth. It’s a clear stone with an arrow inside of it, but it’s never pointed anywhere, never looked anything special until now.

She bursts out of the shower, necklace dangling from her fingers.

“Mom, I think Kal-El’s  _ here _ .”

“What?” her mom asks.

Alex looks up from her book, alarmed. “Kara?”

Kara rushes over to show them the glowing necklace. “It’s never done this before. And look!”

She puts the necklace in her palm, and the arrow moves. When she turns the necklace, the arrow moves again so it’s pointing in the same direction. 

“I think it’s telling me where he is! Is that why you wanted to come here? I’m so  _ stupid _ . I should’ve been looking at places with meteor activity. Of course a spaceship would land with space debris. I -”

She cuts herself off when she realizes that neither her mother nor her sister are sharing her enthusiasm. Her smile slips off her face. It was Dad who told her that she didn’t need to go chasing after Kal-El, that she was just a little girl herself and should be allowed to grow up, that she’d find Kal-El when the time was right, and Mom stood by his decision.

Maybe this is the right time to find him.

She doesn’t even know how old he’s going to be.

Her spaceship got delayed, but she doesn’t know how long.

Is Kal-El older than her now? Is he a grown-up? Or is he getting ready to go to college like her? Did he think she abandoned him? Did -

“I  _ have _ to find him,” Kara says. “I was sent to protect him. What if something’s happened to him? What if -”

“We’ll find him,” her mom says. “I mean, we’ll try. But Kara,” her mom hesitates, “You don’t know what to expect. I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

“I just don’t want him to think that I abandoned him,” Kara says. 

“He won’t think that,” her mom says.

“I’ll help you find him,” Alex promises. She pats Kara’s side of the bed. “Come on, let’s watch a movie. We’ll look for Kal-El tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Kara says.

She clasps her necklace and swears the glass is warm when it touches her skin.

~*~

They walk down the street to the coffee shop they passed on their way in for breakfast. 

Kara’s back to clutching her necklace in her hand. The arrow’s moved since last night, but it hasn’t moved since they started walking, the arrow firmly fixed in front of her. 

Could Kal-El be in the coffee shop?

Could it be that easy?

The coffee shop is more than just a stand, it’s more like a diner, and they get seated at a booth with menus, and Kara puts her necklace in the palm of her hand and looks around to try and guess which of the people in here might be Kal-El.

There are two older men in overalls at the counter, but she doesn’t think either of them is her cousin.

There’s also a haggard looking mother with three kids, but they’re all blonde, and she doesn’t think traveling to Earth would change Kal-El’s hair. And unless his ship got stuck somewhere too, he wouldn’t be that young.

The arrow’s pointing at the wall across from them, and there’s an opening instead of a door, and Kara wants to go investigate, but Alex keeps frowning at her so Kara forces herself to stay still. She can look for Kal-El  _ after _ breakfast. 

She puts her necklace on her placemat and checks to make sure the arrow hasn’t moved.

It hasn’t.

She keeps checking the necklace as she eats, but the arrow doesn’t move until she’s halfway through her pancakes. The arrow starts to tilt towards her and she abandons her pancakes to stare at the opening to the other room.

A teenage boy bursts through, shoulders tight, striding towards the door to the coffee shop, and the arrow swings to follow him.

Kara’s on her feet in an instant.

“Clark, wait!” a girl with short blonde hair says chasing after him.

Kal-El - no,  _ Clark _ \- doesn’t turn around. 

The girl throws up her hands and goes back into the other room.

Kara follows Kal-El out, and she’s about to call out his name, but he gets into a beat-up pick-up truck and drives away before she can say anything.

“He was in a hurry,” a voice says next to her.

She turns to see a bald man - no, he’s not that old, but he’s not  _ young _ either - in a suit.

He smiles at her. 

“You know K - Clark?” she asks.

“I know everyone in town,” he says. He tilts his head to the side. “But not you.”

“Family vacation,” she says. “I wanted to see the meteors. I really like space.”

The man-boy-guy smiles wider. “The meteors are something special. Not the one in the museums, of course. They have the boring ones. I’ve got the really fun ones. Lex Luthor.”

He pulls one of his hands out of his pockets to hold it out to her.

She shakes it. “Kara,” she says.

“So what did you want with Clark?” Lex asks.

“He -” Kara looks down at her necklace, clutched tight in her hand from where she’d grabbed it off the table. The necklace wouldn’t lie to her. Clark -  _ Kal-El  _ \- “He’s my cousin.”

Lex looks surprised. “Cousin? You must be from out of town then.”

Kara laughs, because boy, he doesn’t know the half of it. “Yeah.”

Her mom and Alex come out of the coffee shop, take-out boxes clutched in their hands.

“Kara, what were you -” her mom pauses when she sees Lex and then she frowns. “Hello,” she says with a pointed look at Lex.

He gives Kara’s mom the same easy smile he gave Kara. “Lex Luthor,” he says. “Kara here was just telling me you were in town to see her cousin. Clark and I are friends, I could bring you by. Unless you’ve already made plans with your nephew?”

“Oh, I’m adopted,” Kara says. “This is my mom, but she’s not Ka - Clark’s aunt.”

“Clark’s adopted too,” Lex says.

Kara shrugs. “Lot of that going around, I guess. You’d really bring me to see him? He - it’s been a really long time since we’ve seen each other. I don’t think he recognized me in there.”

“I’m sure Clark will be excited to see family,” Lex says, “and maybe afterwards I can take you and your mother and your sister to see my private collection of meteorites.” 

“Your private collection, huh?” her mom asks. 

Lex shrugs. “Or you can go to the museum.”

“Would you let me study them?” Alex asks. 

Everyone turns to look at her.

“What?” she asks. “Just because I study bioengineering doesn’t mean I’m not interested in geology. Or space.”

“A love of space runs in the family?” Lex asks. The smile he gives Alex is different than the one he gave Kara earlier. “I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name.”

Alex’s cheeks turn pink, and Kara’s eyes go wide as she realizes the difference.

Lex is  _ flirting _ with her  _ sister _ .

She looks over at her mom to see if she’s as horrified as Kara is. Her mom just looks amused which is different from the frown she had when she thought Lex was flirting with Kara. Kara doesn’t understand humans and their relationships.

Alex tried to talk to her about it once, the first time a boy put his mouth on Kara’s. It was  _ weird _ and  _ wet _ and his tongue touched hers, and she didn’t like it. Apparently Alex wants to touch tongues with Lex. Kara scrunches up her nose. 

Gross.

“Well,” her mother says. “We would love it if you could introduce us to Clark and his parents.”

“Of course,” Lex says. “I’m afraid I don’t have room in my car for all of you, but you can follow me out to the Kents’ farm. But I’ve got room for one.”

Another smile for Alex.

“Okay,” Alex says.

Kara rolls her eyes, but she can’t be too upset, because they’re going to see Kal-El. 

She and her mom get in their car and follow the convertible out of town.

“Lex-2?” Kara asks, reading Lex’s license plate.

“Lex Luthor,” her mom says. “Heir to LexCorp.”

“What’s that?” Kara asks.

“They’re a major corporation. But I don’t want to talk to you about Lex right now. Kara, honey, we don’t know if the Kents know who Clark is. We don’t know if Clark knows who he is. You’re going to have to be...subtle.”

“I can totally be subtle,” Kara says.

“Until we know more, you should call him Clark,” her mom says. “And don’t mention Krypton. Or aliens. Or space.”

“You think he doesn’t know?” Kara asks. “He came to Earth in a spaceship.”

“Let’s just tread carefully,” she says. “Especially if Lex is there. Clark has a right to his secrets, just like you.”

“It’s  _ Kal-El _ ,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “But fine.”

They pull up in front of a farm, and Kara’s barely gotten out of the car before a man in jeans and a flannel comes storming out of the house.

“Lex Luthor,” he begins, and he doesn’t sound happy, but he pulls up short as soon as he sees that Lex has brought company. “What’s this?” he demands.

“I’m Kara Danvers,” Kara says, bounding forward. She holds a hand out but the man ignores it. “I’m here to see Clark.”

The man looks from Kara to Lex back to Kara, his brow furrowing. “What do you want with my son?”

Kara’s mom apparently decides she’s had enough of the man’s hostility. She steps forward and puts a hand on Kara’s shoulder. “Kara’s been looking for her cousin for several years now,” she says. “She’d like to say hello before she goes to college.”

“Cousin?” the man shakes his head. “I think you’re mistaken.”

Her mom’s smile is a little sharp as she says, “I don’t think so.”

The man’s face pales. “I really think you are.”

“Jonathan?” a female voice calls from inside the house. “Do we have visitors?”

The man sighs and a moment later a middle-aged woman comes out of the house.

“Lots of visitors,” she says. She tsks at them all. “Why are you all standing out in the sun? Come in. Have a lemonade.”

“Martha, they’re here to see Clark,” Jonathan says. 

“We’re always happy to have Clark’s friends over,” Martha says with an extra warm smile for Lex.

“They’re not friends,” Jonathan says, gruff. “The girl says she’s Clark’s cousin.”

The way he says it, the look he gives Kara make her think that he knows Clark isn’t human. And now he knows that Kara isn’t human, and he doesn’t like it. She wonders if Jonathan Kent is the kind of person her dad warned her about. The kind of person she doesn’t want knowing her secret.

“He  _ is _ my cousin,” Kara says, stubborn, because she  _ promised _ she would find Kal-El and she would help him. She turns to Martha, because she seems much nicer. “The last thing my mother told me to do before she -” Kara cuts herself off before she says ‘put me in my spaceship’ - “She told me to take care of Clark. I just - I just want to say hi. And they we’ll leave if that’s what he wants. But other than Mom and Alex, he’s all the family I’ve got left.”

Her mom moves closer to her, protective but also comforting. 

“Oh, sweetie,” Martha Kent says. “Come in and I’ll pour you all some lemonade. Lex, are you staying?”

He looks from Kara, on the verge of tears, to Jonathan Kent and shakes his head. “I should get back to work. But,” now he turns to Alex. “I promised a private showing of my meteorites.” He pulls out a piece of paper and scribbles something down. “This is my phone number. Whenever you’re done with your reunion and want to see the meteorites just give me a call.”

“Thanks,” Alex says, taking the piece of paper. 

“Jonathan, you go get Clark,” Martha says. “I’m going to bring our guests inside.”

Lex gets back in his convertible, and Kara and her family follow Martha Kent into the house.

“I’m sorry for dropping in on you so unexpectedly,” Kara’s mom says when they’re inside. “We came to Smallville to see the meteors. We didn’t realize Clark would be here.”

Martha Kent takes a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge and then goes to get some glasses. “Clark’s family is always welcome here,” she says. 

Two sets of heavy footsteps are their only warning before Jonathan and Clark come back to the kitchen.

Clark stops in the doorway when he sees their company. “Uh,” he says.

Martha Kent tsks. “Where are you manners, Clark?”

Kara’s feet are rooted to the spot. Because that’s Kal-El. That’s her cousin. The last time she saw him he was little. He was just learning to speak. And now he’s so big. He’s tall and has all these muscles, and he grew up without her.

She was supposed to be at his side, she was supposed to help him and teach him about being Kryptonian, but she didn’t and now he’s a teenager, and -

“Kal-El!” she exclaims before rushing forward to hug him.

She throws her arms around his shoulders, and he doesn’t stumble back the way Alex does when Kara catches her off guard with a hug, but he doesn’t hug her back either.

“Who’s Kal-El?” he asks. 

She steps back with a frown. “You are.”

“My name’s Clark,” he tells her. 

“We named him that,” Martha says, “When we found him.”

“Mom!” Clark says.

“Clark,” Martha says, “This is your cousin.”

“My -” it’s his turn to frown. “That’s impossible.”

Kara looks over at her mom. “Can I?” she asks.

Her mom sighs. “Nothing dangerous.”

Kara looks around the room. “I need to go to the barn,” she decides. She grabs Kal-El’s hand. “Come on.”

“What?” he asks, but he lets her drag her out to the barn.

Everyone else follows them.

There’s a tractor in the barn, it looks like it’s getting some repairs, and Kara walks over to it and lifts it with ease. She looks over her shoulder at Clark. “Can you do this?” she asks.

His mouth is hanging open. “What?”

Kara gently rests the tractor back on the ground. “We can race around the cornfield. I bet I’ll beat you! Later, when it gets dark we can fly!”

“No,” her mom and Kal-El’s dad say at the same time.

Kara pouts. “I wouldn’t get caught.”

“No flying,” her mom says.

“You can really -” Kal-El looks at Kara and then at the tractor. “You’re like me.”

“Yeah,” Kara says, big smile stretching across her face. “You’re my baby cousin. Just - not a baby anymore. If I hug you now, will you hug back?”

“I don’t know you,” he says. 

Kara can feel her face fall. “Yeah,” she says. “That’s my fault. I was supposed to come and find you when I came to Earth, but I didn’t. I should’ve -”

“You were ten,” her mom says. “You weren’t going looking for anyone.”

“Come and find me?” Kal-El asks. “Why?”

“My mom sent me to look after you,” she says. “Cause you were even littler than I was.”

“Why didn’t your mom come?” Kal-El asks. “Why didn’t  _ mine _ ?”

“Our planet was dying,” she says, “and no one believed it until too late. The escape pods could only fit kids. Didn’t you come in a pod? It didn’t tell you anything?” 

He shrugs. “I didn’t understand the language.”

Her mouth falls open but - why would he know Kryptonian? He was so little when he left. There are so many things she needs to teach him. So many things he’s missed out on. But they’re only supposed to be in Smallville for a couple days.

She looks over at her mom.

“That’s up to the Kents,” her mom says, reading Kara’s thoughts off her mind.

“What’s up to the Kents?” Kal-El asks.

“Of course,” Martha says. “We’d love to have a guest for the summer.”

“What?” Kal-El and Jonathan ask at the same time. 

“If it’s not too much trouble, I can stay too,” Alex tells Martha. “I’ve gotten used to helping Kara hide. She doesn’t always remember when she’s on her own.”

“I suppose I should’ve asked Clark first,” Martha says. “Clark, would you like your cousin to stay with us for a little bit?”

Clark looks from his mom to Kara, hesitant.

“Have you ever used your heat vision to heat up leftovers?” 

Clark’s mouth drops. “Heat vision?”

“Oh, that hasn’t come in yet?” she asks. “I guess that’s probably for the best. I knew it was going to happen, and it still caught me off guard. But seriously, not needing a microwave is the best. Makes late-night snacking a lot easier.” She casts a guilty look back at her mom. “Not that I do that. Often.”

Her mom just laughs.

“I guess that’s a yes on visitors for the summer,” Martha says. “Do you girls mind sharing a room?”

“We’ve done it our whole lives,” Kara says. “Well. Most of them. I’ve had my own room while she was at school, but now  _ I’m _ going to school, and I have to get used to having a roommate again.”

“A roommate you can’t use your powers around,” Alex reminds her.

“Yes,” Kara says with a heavy sigh, “A roommate I have to  _ hide myself from _ .”

“No one here knows what I am,” Kal-El says. “So you’ll have to hide here too. And call me Clark. Not...whatever you were calling me before.”

“Clark,” Kara says, testing it out. It’s not what she’s used to, but she can call him that. She’d call him anything if it meant getting to spend a couple weeks with him. “I’m Kara. And, there isn’t a nice way to say this, do you know what you are?”

“An alien?” he says with a nervous laugh. 

“A Kryptonian,” she says. “We’re from Krypton.”

“And it got destroyed?” Clark asks. 

She nods.

“I wonder if that’s what the meteors are,” Martha says. She shrugs when everyone’s attention turns to her. “We found your ship during the meteor storm. If your planet got destroyed then maybe the meteors are pieces of it.”

Kara turns to Alex. “You still have Lex’s number? We should definitely get a look at his meteorites.”

“It sounds like we’ll have plenty of time to look at them,” Alex says. She looks over at her mom then at the Kents. “Clark, why don’t you give Kara and me a tour of the farm? I think the parents want to talk.”

“Okay,” Clark says.

Kara waits until they’re a couple minutes into a cornfield to say, “You’re going to let me fly, right? You know I’m careful. And it’s not like we’re in a big city where anyone will see me.”

Alex frowns but she’s always been easier on Kara and her powers than their parents. “We’ll talk about it.”

“You can really fly?” Clark asks. 

“You don’t know how yet?” Kara asks. “I’m definitely teaching you before I leave. The best part about being able to fly is that you can get ice cream any time you want. The second best?” Kara looks around but there’s only corn stalks around them. “You can get into drive-in movies without having to pay.”

She smiles bright, excited, happy to share this with him.

Clark looks...baffled. 

“You can fly and you use it to sneak into movies?” he asks.

“Neat, huh?” she asks. “I  _ want _ to use my powers to help people, but my family says it’s too risky.”

“Mine too,” Clark says. 

They walk a bit farther before Clark says, “We’re pretty far away from the house.”

“I know,” Alex says. “I figured our parents probably didn’t want the two of you hearing everything they said.”

“I just turn down my hearing,” Clark says.

“Turn it down?” Kara asks.

“You don’t know how?” He looks pleased to be able to teach her something.

“I don’t - I don’t try to be human more than Alex tells me I have to.”

“Oh,” Clark says, like that’s weird. “Well, it’s pretty easy. This is what you do…”

~*~

When they get back from their walk, the grown-ups are all sitting at the kitchen table, each with an untouched glass of lemonade.

Martha and Kara’s mom both smile when the kids come in.

“You can stay with the Kents for a month,” her mom says. “And, if Clark wants to, after that, he can come stay with us for a month before he has to start school, and we have to move you into college.”

That’s even more than Kara thought she was going to get. “Really?” she asks.  “This is going to be the best summer ever! Thank you!” 

She throws her arms around her mom’s neck, hugging her, before she hugs Martha too.

“You’re not going to regret it,” Kara promises. “I can be a big help. And I always do my dishes after dinner -” Alex coughs. Kara ignores her - “And I’ll keep Clark’s secret. You don’t have to worry about me telling anyone anything.”

“We’re excited to have you stay with us,” Martha says, patting Kara’s back. “You too, Alex.”

Jonathan doesn’t say anything.

~*~

That night, after Kara and Alex’s mom has left to go back home, and they’ve all eaten dinner, Alex and Kara are in bed, but Kara’s too restless to sleep yet.

She’s found Kal-El. She found her cousin. He’s older than she thought he’d be when she found him, but these past few years she started doubting that she’d ever find him. And there’s still plenty for her to teach him.

And he’s reserved, but she thinks he’s excited to see her too.

She flips onto her side.

“Go to sleep,” Alex mumbles.

“Sorry,” Kara whispers.

She means to go to sleep, she does, but then she hears voices drifting up from the kitchen.

“This was a bad idea,” Jonathan says.

“You’ve already said that,” Martha says. “Multiple times.”

“She’s going to out him. We’ve worked so hard to help him blend in, to make him  _ normal _ . She doesn’t even try.”

They’re talking about her. Kara curls up into a tight ball. She knew Mr. Kent didn’t want her here, that he doesn’t like her but -

“Hey,” Alex says, shaking her shoulder, and Kara realizes that she’s got her hands clapped over her ears. 

“Go to sleep,” Kara says, pulling away.

“You first,” Alex says, bossy like it’s her right as Kara’s older sister to tell her what to do. She pries Kara’s hands off her ears. 

“They’re talking about me,” Kara says. 

“Turn down your hearing,” Alex says. “Like Clark taught you.”

“Mr. Kent doesn’t want me here,” Kara says.

Alex pulls her into a hug. “Clark does. And Martha does. Turn down  your hearing and go to sleep.”

Kara does.

~*~

Kara wakes up to Clark’s alarm, because her hearing turned itself back up during the night. She’s going to have to learn to control that or she’s going to be really miserable living in a dorm room. She slips out of bed, careful not to wake up Alex and gets changed before meeting Clark outside the barn.

“You’re awake?” he asks.

He’s rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and his hair is all over the place like he didn’t even comb it, just rolled out of bed.

“I want to help,” she says.

“Okay,” he says.

He shows her how to feed and water the animals and then she watches at he milks the cows, because he doesn’t trust her to do it. She’s not sure she’d trust herself to do it either.

“You’ve got straw in your hair,” Alex tells her when they come inside for breakfast. 

“I got to help feed the animals,” Kara says, sitting down at the kitchen table. “The horses ate out of my hands. How cool is that?”

“I’m setting up at the farmer’s market tomorrow if you want to come,” Martha tells her. 

“Really?” Kara asks. 

“Of course,” Martha answers. “You can help Clark lug around all the heavy boxes of vegetables.”

Kara tugs on Alex’s sleeve. “I get to go to the farmer’s market!”

“Yes,” Alex says, but she’s smiling as she rescues her sleeve from getting wrinkled. “I heard.”

“Today can we go look at the meteorites?” Kara asks. She turns to Clark. “Do you want to come see Lex’s meteorites?”

“No,” Jonathan answers for him. “Lex Luthor is bad news.”

“Oh.” Kara deflates. “But...we can still go?”

“Yes,” Alex says. “We’ll go this afternoon. You were promised space rocks on this vacation, and you’re going to get them.”

Martha brings over a skillet full of eggs and splits them between all the plates. “Don’t worry,” she tells Kara and Clark. “I’m making more.”

“These are really good!” Kara says and she even waits until she’s done chewing to talk.

“Fresh eggs,” Martha says. “Once you’ve had them, the ones from the store never taste the same.”

Kara gives her a big smile and two thumbs up before she goes back to eating.

~*~

The Luthor Mansion is  _ huge _ . 

Lex picked them up from the Kents’ in a Bentley that isn’t any less flashy than the convertible but can at least fit more people. Kara stares at the mansion from the car and tries not to breathe on the window.

“Wow,” she says.

“It’s our ancestral home,” Lex says, but he sounds more mocking than proud. “My father brought it from Scotland. Took it apart and had it reassembled like Legos.”

“I like Legos,” Kara says. “I don’t think I could build something this big, though. Not even with one of those instructional sheets.”

“Like you ever followed the instructions,” Alex says.

Mostly, Kara would steal one or two piece and hide them so Alex, who  _ did _ follow the instructions, wouldn’t be able to complete her castle or X-wing or whatever she was making. Sometimes Kara forgot where she hid the pieces and then Alex got mad. 

“Do you live with your dad, then?” Kara asks.

Lex laughs, a short, sharp sound that’s the only answer he gives.

It’s a mansion which means it has an  _ entry hall _ , and Kara feels like this is the kind of place where she should take her shoes off at the door so she doesn’t get the floor dirty, but Lex leaves his shoes on so Kara leaves hers on as well.

He’s gives them a brief tour as they head to the meteorites - ‘that’s my great grandfather, shame he didn’t stay childless’, ‘in there is the formal dining room’, - but Kara doesn’t pay as much attention as Alex does. Kara’s too busy trying to look at everything around her while at the same time not tripping over her feet and breaking something.

She’s pretty sure the vase she just passed is worth more than their whole house.

She thinks it might be Grecian; at least, it looks like something out of  _ Hercules _ and, added to the fancy paintings and the marble statues - “It feels like a museum,” she says.

“A museum that happens to have a couple bedrooms,” Lex agrees. He stops in front of a set of double doors. “But through here is the room you two are interested in.”

He opens both doors, and Kara’s eyes immediately focus on the chunk of meteor on the far side of the room. It’s in a glass case, and there are bits of glowing green rock protruding from it.

“Woah,” Kara says, taking a step into the room. “Why does it -”

She’s barely crossed into the room when a sharp pain makes her double over. She - she hasn’t  _ hurt _ , not like this, since she was on Krypton. She looks up at Alex, betrayed, even though it isn’t Alex’s fault. It - this shouldn’t be happening. Kara doesn’t get hurt.

“Woah,” Alex says, kneeling down next to her. “What’s wrong?”

Kara wants to answer, but a wave of nausea washes over her, and she’s afraid she’s going to throw up if she opens her mouth. She shakes her head instead.

“Everything okay?” Lex asks. “I can call a doctor.”

“No,” Alex says, maybe a touch too quick. Her hand touches Kara’s forehead. “I think she probably just ate something weird. I’m sorry. Maybe we can reschedule?”

“Of course,” Lex says. “If she needs to lie down, there are several guest rooms here.”

Kara just wants to get out of this room. She was fine until she stepped into it. It takes both Lex and Alex to get her to her feet, and Kara’s limbs dangle, useless, until they’re out of the room and the doors are shut behind them.

She can feel her strength coming back, filling her body just as quickly as it had emptied before, but a sharp poke from Alex keeps her from shaking off their help. Right, she’s pretending to be sick. At least that’s better than actually being sick.

“I should probably get her back to the farm,” Alex says, “but if she’s feeling better later, I could come back. I’d still like to see the meteorites.”

“And dinner?” Lex asks.

Kara can’t believe they’re planning a  _ date _ . “I could be dying,” she says.

“You’re not,” Alex tells her.

Kara sighs dramatically and lets her body go even more limp, and Alex grunts as she’s caught off guard by the extra weight. 

“I’ll bring the convertible to get you,” Lex says, sounding pleased that he gets to show off his fancy car again. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Alex tells him.

Kara rolls her eyes.

~*~

“So,” Alex says, as soon as they’re in the Kent house, and Lex has left. “What happened back there?”

“I don’t know,” Kara says. She stands up straight, takes the opportunity to stretch now that she doesn’t have to pretend to be sick anymore. “I’ve never hurt that way before on Earth. We stepped into the room, and my stomach hurt and I was dizzy, and I felt like I was too weak to hold myself up.”

“Has Clark ever been sick?” Alex asks Martha.

Martha, who had been unloading the dishwasher when they arrived, turns to them. “Clark? Sick? Never.”

“Not quite,” Clark admits, coming in from the other room. He ducks his head at the sharp look he gets from his mom. “Sometimes, I feel like that. Um, if I get too close to Lana.”

Martha Kent rolls her eyes. “Butterflies over a crush isn’t what we’re talking about here.”

“I know,” he insists, and he’s definitely blushing, “but I know the difference. I mean, if I get  _ close _ , like if we pass each other in the hallway or get put together for lab. There’s - I don’t know what it is. I get dizzy and nauseous. I fell out of my chair once. I got sent to the nurse. We haven’t been lab partners since.”

He looks more upset about that then the random sickness thing. 

“I’m going back to the mansion tonight,” Alex says. “I’ll get a better look at the meteorites, see if I can figure anything out. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they landed when Clark did and that they seem to have an effect on Kryptonians.”

“But they’re pieces of Krypton,” Kara says. “I think I would’ve noticed if my planet was trying to kill me.”

“Isn’t that why you and Clark were sent here?” Martha asks, gentle. “Because something was wrong with Krypton?”

“I’m going to need to study some of these rocks,” Alex says. 

“I know some places you can look,” Martha says, “but if they’re dangerous to Clark and Kara, what are you going to do with them?”

“I -” Alex looks down at her hands for a moment - “I have friends that can study them.”

“She works for a secret organization,” Kara adds when Martha looks skeptical. 

Alex groans. 

“What?” Kara asks. “I don’t know  _ what _ organization. That’s why it’s a secret.”

Alex looks like she’s the one with the headache now. 

“Alright,” Martha says. “As long as the meteor rocks don’t come back here.”

“You and Lex can go on a moonlit walk looking for rocks,” Kara says. “It’ll be the perfect ending to your date.”

It’s Alex’s turn to blush. “We’re not going on a date. And even if we were, I wouldn’t go  _ rock hunting _ as a date.”

Kara shrugs. “Humans are weird. Maybe you would.”

“Kryptonians don’t date?” Clark asks.

“Not with the hand holding and the tongue touching - “

“Kissing,” Alex interprets.

“ - and all that stuff,” Kara finishes. “When two Kryptonians want children they visit the geneticist, find out if they’re genetically compatible, and if they are then they combine their DNA and grow their child in a tube. Usually they bring the incubation tube to their house so they can track the growth of their child.”

Martha and Kent are both staring at her.

“Obviously I can’t do that,” she says. “Earth doesn’t have that kind of technology. Alex says if I want a kid then I have to do it the human way.” Kara scrunches up her nose. “But the human way sounds messy. And inefficient. How do women get anything done if they’ve got babies in them all the time?”

Martha doesn’t even try to cover her laugh.

“Incubators?” Clark asks faintly.

“They’re really cool,” Kara says. “I got to see you in your incubator.”

“Can we go back to talking about rocks?” Clark asks, desperate. 

~*~

Kara helps clean up after dinner, rinsing the dishes before handing them to Clark to put in the dishwasher. 

When they’re done, she turns to him, expectant. “Walk?” she asks. 

“No rocks,” he says.

Kara laughs. “No rocks. We’ll leave that to Alex and Lex.”

There’s a breeze that ruffles Kara’s hair when they get outside. The breeze helps push away the lingering heat of the day, and Kara and Clark head out past the corn until they reach one of the fallow fields. 

“Ready for you first lesson?” she asks. “I was thinking heat vision.”

She stares at the ground, about ten feet away from where they’re standing and  _ concentrates _ . She can feel the pressure building and lets it keep building until it pushes out of her eyes in a thin line of heat.

“Ah!” Clark shouts, but she doesn’t look away, doesn’t stop focusing until his shouting gets louder. “Fire! Fire, Kara!”

She turns off her heat vision and - 

Oops.

There were some twigs in the dirt along with some dead corn stalks, and they’ve caught flame.

She takes a deep breath and then uses her freeze breath to knock the fire out.

“Maybe we should start with freeze breath,” she says.

“We’re going to die,” Clark says.

~*~

Clark’s got pretty good freeze breath going by the time they head back to the house, but he tells her he doesn’t want to work on his heat vision until he’s sure he can put out any accidental fires. It’s a fair point. They’ll just have to work harder on the freeze breath, because heat vision is the kind of thing she should really teach him control over. 

“You should go to bed early,” Clark tells her when they get back to the house. “Market days are early days.”

“Don’t leave without me,” she tells him. “No matter how early you go.”

“I won’t,” he promises. 

She goes upstairs, glad to see Alex already in the room they share.

“How was your date?” Kara asks, flopping down on the bed. 

She’s careful not to land on any of the papers Alex has spread across the bed, but Alex still gives her a look before pulling all the papers closer to her, like Kara’s going to roll around and wrinkle them or something.

“It wasn’t a date,” Alex says. “It was research.”

“Yeah. ‘Research’,” Kara says, finger quotes and all.

“I wish you’d stop doing that,” Alex says. “No one does that anymore.”

“I do a lot things people don’t do. At least this way they think I’m uncool and not an alien. But I’m gonna bring finger quotes back. Because they  _ are  _ cool. And you’re trying to distract me. Did he dress up?”

Alex sighs. “I haven’t seen Lex in anything but a suit.”

“Which is a yes. Did you go somewhere for dinner or did you eat at the mansion?”

“The mansion. Do we really have to do 20 Questions?”

“Uh, yeah,” Kara says. “You went a date. I want all the details.” Kara tries to think about what else happens on dates. They were both dressed up, they ate - oh! “Did you hold hands?”

Alex blushes.

“You did!” Kara punches her fist in the air. “You totally held hands. Did he drive you home? Did you kiss in his convertible?”

“You don’t even like this stuff,” Alex says, her face bright red.

“No, but you do,” Kara says. She slides closer. “Did you like it? Do you like him?”

“Yes and yes,” Alex says. “Now I’m done talking about it.”

“Okay.” Kara wriggles around until she gets under the blankets. “Want me to get you up for the farmer’s market tomorrow?”

“Absolutely not,” Alex says. “You mind if I stay up for a bit, looking through some stuff?”

“Interesting stuff?” Kara asks.

“Science.”

“You can read it to me,” Kara says. “It’ll probably put me to sleep in a couple minutes tops.”

“Ha ha,” Alex says. She pulls her papers closer to her. “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

Kara turns away from the lamp on Alex’s nightstand and closes her eyes.

~*~

She hears Clark’s alarm go off the next morning, and she eases out of bed, careful not disturb Alex. She doesn’t know how late her sister stayed up, but she knows that she is definitely not a morning person. There are some days where Alex’s grumpy face is worth having things thrown at her, but today isn’t one of those days.

Well, every day is made better by seeing Alex’s grumpy face, but Kara’s feeling charitable today so she slips downstairs without waking up her sister. 

She and Clark do their morning chores, grab a quick breakfast and then load up the truck. No one talks much, but Kara thinks it’s an early morning thing and not an unhappy thing. Well, Mr. Kent never looks happy to see her, but Mrs. Kent gives Kara an extra muffin at breakfast so things are good on that front at least.

“Most of our neighbors have standing orders,” Clark explains as they’re setting up their table. “I make the deliveries on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some of our neighbors like to pick up directly from the market, but most of our business today will come from people wandering in from nearby towns or people passing through.”

“We bought cherries on the side of the road on our road trip,” Kara says. “Rainier cherries might be the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Well, that’s not true. Because ice cream. And popcorn with real Cabot butter. And poutine. Have you had that? I went to Canada once when I was bored and it’s so good.”

“Huh,” Clark says. 

“I mean, what’s the point of being able to fly if you don’t take advantage of it, right?”

Mr. Kent slams of box of tomatoes down on the table harder than necessary and Kara catches the few that spill over the edge.

“Almost lost these,” she says, putting them back in the box. She turns back to Clark. “I’ll have to take you somewhere before I go back home. Start thinking about someplace you’d go in the world if you had the chance. Ooh, Macchu Picchu? The sunrise is  _ unreal _ . I mean, it’s obviously real, but -”

“Someone’s a chatterbox,” a boy Kara doesn’t know says.

He’s in a jacket with a red ‘S’ on one side and heavy leather sleeves.

“Isn’t it a little hot for jackets?” she asks. She’s in a t-shirt and is already feeling a little warm. She might have to take a break in an hour or so to slip somewhere no one can see her and blow a little freeze breath over herself. 

The boy puffs himself up. “It’s a letterman jacket.”

“I don’t know what that means,” she tells Clark.

She means to whisper but she must not, because the boy laughs.

“Kara, this is Whitney Fordman,” Clark tells her. “He’s the quarterback.”

“Football!” Kara says. She smiles at Whitney then at Clark. “Football’s the one with the quarterback, right?”

Whitney laughs again.

“Be nice,” a girl with long brown hair scolds coming to stand next to Whitney. 

The hair on the back of Kara’s neck prickles at the girl gets closer, and Kara can feel a familiar nausea rising up in her. This must be Lana, then. Kara offers her a bright smile, even as she backs up towards the truck.

“I’m just gonna keep unloading things,” Kara says and then flees. 

She can breathe easier once she’s farther away from the girl. She has no idea how Clark goes to school with someone who wears a meteor rock around their neck. Or how Clark has a crush on someone he can’t get near without getting sick. 

When Kara comes back with another crate of tomatoes, Lana and Whitney have left. Clark’s staring after them.

“So that’s Lana?” Kara asks.

Clark quickly goes back to putting the peppers on display. “Yeah.”

“She’s pretty,” Kara says.

“She’s beautiful,” Clark corrects. He sighs. “And off limits. Even if I could get near her without getting sick, she has a boyfriend and I don’t even think she likes me.”

“She likes you,” Kara says. “I mean, I don’t know if she wants to kiss you, but if she didn’t like you then she wouldn’t have come over to make sure Whitney wasn’t being mean.”

“Was that supposed to be reassuring?” Clark asks.

Kara shrugs. “It was the truth. I don’t know if it was reassuring or not.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Clark says, moving on to the onions. “Even if she did like me and was single, that’s not how Kr - how we do relationships.”

Kara rolls her eyes, but she doesn’t have a chance to say anything before a woman with bright red hair and even brighter smile comes to their booth. 

~*~

Kara  _ loves _ the farmer’s market. There are dozens of people to talk to, and she talks to every person who stops at their booth and ones who don’t. When it’s lunch time, Mr. and Mrs. Kent cover the booth, and Kara drags Clark around the market to get some fresh fruit and fresh pickles to go with their sandwiches.

“Pickles don’t go with peanut butter and jelly,” Clark tells her, wrinkling his nose.

“Pickles go with everything.”

The boy behind the booth, someone Clark goes to school with, can’t hide the downward turn of his mouth.

Kara rolls her eyes. “We want four. One for everyone.”

“No one else is going to eat them,” Clark says.

“Then I get four.”

~*~

It’s late when they get back from the market, and Clark and Kara have chores to do while Martha makes dinner.

They’re weeding the garden, a task Clark assures her is much better done during the coolers parts of the day.

Kara waits until she has a small piles of weeds next to her before she broaches the subject she’s been thinking about since this morning. “Lana,” she begins and Clark groans.

“Are we starting this again?”

“You like her,” Kara says, stubborn, because it runs in her family. She learned from Alex, after all. 

“And you said Kryptonians didn’t do stuff like dating and kissing.”

“So?” Kara asks.

Clark yanks a couple weeds out of the ground, pulling up large clumps of dirt with the roots. “ _ So _ , I’m Kryptonian.”

“You’re more than that,” Kara says. “You’re a Kryptonian living on Earth. You can pick and choose when you want to be Kryptonian and when you don’t want to be. Who’s going to tell you you’re doing it wrong?”

“You won’t?” Clark asks. “You came here looking for me. To teach me all these things.”

“So you’d know,” Kara says. “What we can do is amazing. I’ve taken Alex flying with me, but to fly  _ with  _ someone? I would love that. And some of the things we can do are dangerous so I want to help you to learn control. I’m not trying to make you a Kryptonian. I mean, I was little when I left. I don’t know everything either. I just want you to know everything I know so you can pick what you want.”

“Really?”

Kara pushes her glasses up her nose. “Really. If you want to kiss girls and hold hands then you should. And if you want to be a volunteer fireman then you should do that too.”

“What do you want?” Clark asks.

“I want to stop hiding all the time,” Kara says. “I want to help people. When I lift things I shouldn’t be able to or fly or even rechill my Coolattas it reminds me that I’m not human. It reminds me that I’m a Kryptonian and even if my parents didn’t have powers like this it helps me remember them. I  _ like _ being different.”

Dad used to give her all these lectures on how she needed to hide for her own safety, how she needed to blend in, and she understands why, but she’s always hated it. She wants to hover over Metropolis or National City and say ‘look at me, here I am’. She wants to swoop into burning buildings and rescue people from rockfalls.

Here, with Jonathan keeping such a close eye on what she does and how she behaves she feels ashamed of who she is for the first time. She doesn’t like that feeling. She loves being Kryptonian and she loves being human, and she’s going to find a way to be both. Human during the day and Kryptonian at night maybe.

She laughs a little at the thought. That’s definitely not what Dad would want. Mom probably wouldn’t like it either.

Alex might. Alex has always cared about Kara being happy, and being able to be all of herself would make her happy.

“Come on,” Kara says, turning her attention back to their chores. “Let’s hurry up and get this done so we can go flying after dinner. We’ll be really careful, and you’ll love it. I promise.”

“Dad won’t be happy,” Clark says. “And didn’t you promise your mom you’d keep undercover?”

“We’re teenagers,” Kara says. “We’re supposed to bend the rules and disappoint our parents. Think of it as embracing your human side.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not what we’re supposed to be doing,” Clark says, but he uses a bit of his superspeed to make the weeding go by faster and after dinner they make excuses to go for a long walk.

Alex sees right through them, but she doesn’t call them out on what they’re doing, and Kara takes Clark for his first flight.

~*~

Alex disappears for a few days, telling Kara she needs to look at the rocks more closely than she can in Smallville. Kara interprets that as super secret organization stuff and doesn’t press any further.

She keeps herself busy learning about the farm from Clark and teaching him more about Krypton - not just about their powers but about table manners and clothes and what she can remember of his parents.

He also introduces her to his friends.

Chloe’s the blonde from the diner, the one that Clark had been fighting with. Kara doesn’t bring it up (because she has tact no matter what Alex says). 

She just smiles and shakes Chloe’s hand then Pete’s. “I’m Kara. Nice to meet you both.”

“Kara’s my cousin,” Clark tells them. “She’s visiting from out of town.”

“Cousin?” Chloe asks, eyebrows shooting straight up.

“Does hotness run in your family or something?” Pete asks then shrugs when everyone stares at him. “What? It’s a valid question.”

“We’ve got good genes,” Kara says. She doesn’t add that their parents made sure of it. 

“She’s been helping out at the farm,” Clark says. “And I’m going to visit her for a month before school starts up. So, uh, I guess this is my warning that I’m going to be gone for a month.”

“A month?” Chloe asks.

“I’m not sure how Smallville’s going to survive without you,” Pete says, but he’s grinning as he says it. “Good for you, though. Hey, this means you aren’t getting out of the Fourth of July bash down at the lake. It can double as a going away party.”

“I’m not leaving for good,” Clark says. “It’s just a month.”

“You’re still coming to the party,” Pete tells him.

“Party?” Kara asks. “Will it be fun?”

“There’ll be swimming and a cookout and fireworks,” Pete says. “It’s going to be  _ awesome _ .”

“Probably some smuggled beer,” Chloe adds. “Just in case that’s something that bothers you.”

“I’ll just stay away from it,” Kara says. She can’t get drunk which she learned when she was little and thought her dad’s beer was grown-up soda and got into it. She’d gotten a pretty stern lecture, and her dad only relented when she told him that it tasted gross, and she wouldn’t try it ever again now that she knew what it was.

“Cool. You can come over and get ready with me,” Chloe says. “Clark’s idea of getting ready to go out is putting on a new pair socks.”

“My feet sweat on the farm!” Clark says.

“So does the rest of you. You could, I don’t know, try showering? Or changing more than just your socks?”

“I don’t have any party clothes,” Kara says. She doesn’t have that many clothes at all, because she wasn’t expecting a month long stay with her cousin when she packed for this road trip. “I do have a bathing suit, though.”

“You can borrow something from me,” Chloe says. “We’ll knock everyone out with our blonde power.”

“This is a bad idea,” Pete says. 

“This is a  _ great _ idea,” Chloe corrects and she slings an arm around Kara’s shoulders and drags her in for a hug.

~*~

“I’ve got got good news and bad news,” Alex says when she gets back from her trip.

She looks like she wants to drop her briefcase on the table, but then she remembers that it’s not her table, and she pulls it back to her chest. 

Kara and Clark were having a mid afternoon snack when Alex got back. Kara slowly lowers her apple slice back down to the table. “Like really bad news and kinda good new? Or kinda bad news and really good news?”

“The meteorites don’t hurt just Kryptonians,” Alex says and Martha stops cutting a cantaloupe into pieces. “They’re radioactive. They obviously have a big effect on Clark and Kara, but prolonged exposure will cause cancer in humans. There’s a clean-up crew on its way to gather as many of the rocks as they can find.”

“Cancer?” Martha asks.

Clark drops his peanut butter covered knife. Luckily it falls back into the jar. “Lana’s wearing a piece of rock around her neck. Do you think -”

“We’ll have an expert talk to her,” Alex promises. “See if we can get a replica of the necklace made. It’s definitely not the kind of stuff you want to be wearing around your neck.”

“Do you trust this clean-up crew?” Martha asks. “There are a lot of meteor rocks here, and they can do a lot of damage.”

“I trust them,” Alex says. “And I’ll be part of the crew. Retrieving the rocks that are in public areas will be easy. Retrieving them from private collections will be more difficult.”

“Lex,” Clark realizes. 

“Exactly,” Alex says. She runs her hand through her hair. “But we’re going to get as much of it out as we can. We’re going to make Smallville safe again.”

“Guess we’ll have to go back to being a corn town instead of a meteor town,” Clark says. “It’ll be nice not to have to worry about the meteor rocks though.”

“They’re being classified as Kryptonite,” Alex says. “Since, you know, not good for Kryptonians.”

“Massive understatement,” Kara says. She never wants to be exposed to Kryptonite ever again. She enjoys her pain-free, sickness-free existence. “You really think Lex will give up his collection?”

“I don’t know,” Alex admits, “but I’m going to explain the dangers and then I’m going to ask nicely. Hopefully that will work.”

“Because Option B isn’t as nice?” Clark guesses.

Alex’s smile, when it comes, isn’t very friendly.

~*~

Alex makes sure the lake and surrounding area is cleared first so there aren’t any problems when Clark and Kara go to the party. 

Kara shows up in a ruffled skirt and a shirt that’s a couple inches too short, but Chloe’s wearing something similar so Kara figures it’s a style thing and not a her torso is too long thing. 

Kara’s the one who does their hair, sloppy up-dos for the both of them, because it’s too hot to have your hair sticking to the back of your neck, and they do each other’s mascara and lip gloss before deciding that’s all the make-up they need. 

Clark and Pete are already at the lake when they get there, arms linked together because nothing brings people together like getting ready for a party. Kara doesn’t have a lot of friends, mostly she just has her mom and her sister, and neither of them are interested in dressing up or going out. 

Kara’s hoping she’ll find friends like Chloe when she goes to college. 

“Did you hear about the meteor rocks?” Chloe asks, dropping Kara’s arm to hug Pete then Clark, apparently not noticing how either of them stare at her before shaking themselves.

“Unfortunately,” Pete grumbles. “My dad made the whole family go and help out. I’ve done nothing but pick up rocks for the past two days.”

“They’re a danger to everyone,” Chloe says. “You did important work. I’m writing an article about them. Did you work with any of the geologists that came? All my article needs are a few solid interviews. I’d prefer someone with a PhD.”

Clark and Kara exchange looks.

They both know someone involved in the clean-up, but they’re not going to tell anyone about Alex’s involvement. Or their own. It would lead to too many questions.

“What about you, Clark?” Chloe asks. “Did you get wrangled into rock clean-up?”

“I didn’t,” Clark says and Pete makes a noise of outrage. “Dad gave me the choice - all the farm chores while he picked up rocks or I could pick up rocks while he did the farm stuff.”

“You could’ve helped me,” Pete says. “At least given me someone to talk to.”

Clark shrugs. “Sorry.”

“Tomorrow,” Pete says. “Because I’m sure my dad won’t let me off the hook until the whole town in meteor rock free.”

“Rocks are boring,” Kara says before Clark has to come up with some excuse for why he can’t. 

The inability to lie runs in their family along with being sent to Earth and having superpowers. 

“You’re telling me,” Pete mutters, but they move away from the outskirts of the party to where a couple of the football players have the grills going. 

“ _ Food _ ,” Kara says and she bounds over to the grill with the shortest line. 

“Way to leave us behind,” Pete grumbles once they’re all back together and with plates full of cookout food.

Kara’s already finished her hot dog, but she’s still got a cheeseburger on her plate and a big serving of potato salad. 

“You were slow,” she says before digging into her potato salad. “And I’ve got priorities.”

“Food over friendship,” Pete says. He clutches his heart. “That hurts.”

“You’re full of baloney,” she tells him. She swipes a couple chips off Pete’s plate before he yanks it out of her reach. 

“Friends share,” she says.

“Friends don’t let friends end up in the back of the line,” he counters. 

“Am I interrupting something?” Lana asks, approaching them slowly, hesitant. 

She’s in a navy blue sundress with little yellow flowers all over it, and Kara notices right away that she doesn’t have her necklace. Looks like Alex or someone was able to convince her it wasn’t good for her.

“No,” Clark says, opening their circle up to her. “We’re just chatting. Um, do you remember Kara? From the farmer’s market?”

“We saw each other,” Lana says, “but we weren’t introduced.”

“Oh!” Kara tucks her bottle of water under her arm to free up a hand so she can hold it out. “I’m Kara. Clark’s cousin.”

“Lana Lang.”

They shake hands.

“Have you tried the potato salad?” Kara asks. “It’s amazing.”

“Uh, I haven’t,” Lana says.

Kara holds her plate out. “Want some?”

“I’m good, but thank you.” She reaches up to her neck, and her fingers close around nothing.

There’s a moment of stretched silence as everyone wonders if they should bring up the obvious.

“Are you getting a new one?” Clark asks. “Necklace, I mean. I heard they were taking all the meteor rocks out of Smallville.”

“Yeah,” Lana says. “I’m going to have to get a bunch of tests and stuff as I get older, make sure it didn’t make me sick or anything. It’s ironic, you know? It was supposed to be something beautiful that came out of all the nastiness, but actually it was just killing me.” There are tears welling up in her eyes. “Um, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I just told you all that.”

“It’s okay,” Clark says. “We’re good listeners.”

Kara zips over to the dessert table and grabs a couple things before popping up next to Lana.

“Chocolate helps,” Kara promises, handing over a plate with a chocolate frosted cupcake and a triple fudge brownie. “Probably more than potato salad.”

“Oh,” Lana says, surprised. “Thank you.”

It’s the least she can do since it’s her fault. Her planet that exploded and killed Lana’s parents, and her sister that confiscated all the meteor rocks in Smallville. Kara gives Lana’s shoulder a squeeze before falling back between Chloe and Pete.

She eats the brownie but gives the cupcake to Clark.

Kara goes to get a few brownies for herself and when she comes back, Whitney and Lana are headed towards the water. She’s surprised when Clark doesn’t stare wistfully after her. 

“What?” Clark asks, frowning at her raised eyebrows. “She has a boyfriend. I’m not - that’s not the kind of guy I am.”

Chloe gasps. “Wait, is Clark Kent saying that he’s over his hopeless crush on Lana Lang?”

“Someone catch me,” Pete says. “I’m about to faint.”

He puts the back of his hand to his forehead and pretends to swoon. 

“I have the worst friends,” Clark says, but he’s smiling as he says it. 

~*~

When the party’s over, Kara grabs Clark’s arm before he can catch a ride with Chloe or even Pete. 

“We’re getting picked up,” Kara says when all three of them give her a weird look. “My sister’s coming to get us.”

“She is?” Clark asks.

“She was worried we were going to get into trouble,” Kara says, “So she wanted to make sure she picked us up. I guess you can go home with Chloe or Pete, though.”

Kara doesn’t let go of Clark’s arm, and he doesn’t try to pull away. They say bye to Pete and Chloe and then Kara drags him out into the woods where they’re out of sight of the few remaining stragglers.

“Alex isn’t coming to get us, is she?” Clark asks.

“Nope,” Kara says. Her heart’s pounding in her chest, and she can’t keep the smile off her face. She’s been looking for a time to take Clark flying again, and she’s not sure she’s going to get a better one than this. “I mean, she can, but I was thinking I could take us home.”

“You mean like,” Clark looks up at the sky.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Kara says. She holds her hands out. “You wanna?”

Clark hesitates, like he can hear his dad’s voice in his head, but then he clasps Kara’s hands. “Yeah. Let’s fly.”

Kara wraps his arms around her waist. “Hold on tight,” she says, before pushing off the ground. 

They’re in the air, wind whipping through their hair, across their faces, and Kara laughs as Clark squeezes her like he’s afraid he’s afraid he’s going to fall. She’s not going to let him fall. And even if he did, they don’t get hurt. Not now that most of the Kryptonite is gone at least.

Kara touches down in the barren field they’ve been practicing their powers in. 

“Awesome right?” Kara asks. 

She fusses with Clark’s hair so it doesn’t look as windblown. She’s sure Alex will know how they got home, but she’s hoping Mr. Kent won’t be able to tell.

“I can’t wait until I can do that,” Clark says. “I mean the x-ray vision is cool, and the whole never getting sick thing is also pretty cool, but being able to fly…” Clark trails off, a far away look in his eye.

“It’s the best,” Kara says. 

She slings an arm around his shoulders, and they head down to the house. 

The outside light is on, and Alex is waiting for them in the living room. She’s stretched out on the couch, a cup of tea in her hands, but she sits up as soon as she sees them.

“Everyone else is asleep,” she says, voice pitched low so it won’t carry to the Kents’ bedroom. She looks them over and raises her eyebrows. “Good thing too. You didn’t ride home with either of your friends, did you?”

Clark hangs his head.

Alex sighs. “Did anyone see you?”

“I know how to be careful,” Kara says. “I just want Clark to feel what it’s like. Just a couple tmes before we go back home. It’s a lot harder to sneak out in the city.”

Alex’s stern face doesn’t hold for long. “I know. I’m not trying to ruin your fun. Just - there are a lot of people in Smallville right now. People looking for unusual things. I want to make sure you don’t get noticed by the wrong people.”

“No more flying,” Kara promises. “And no more powers until the clean-up crew is gone.”

“Thank you,” Alex says. “We’re almost done. You can go back to setting dead cornstalks on fire in a couple days.”

“I’ve mastered the freeze breath,” Clark says. “Heat vision is next.”

“No more spoiled vegetables,” Kara says. “And once we’ve got the heat vision down you won’t need the microwave anymore. Or the oven. It’s great.”

“It takes some practice,” Alex says, because she’s eaten more than one burnt hamburger thanks to Kara’s superpowers. 

“I should get up to bed,” Clark says. “We don’t get to sleep in tomorrow just because there was a party tonight.”

“Mm,” Kara says, already thinking about her bed. “Sleep.” 

They say their goodnights and then they part ways, Clark up to his room, Kara and Alex’s up to theirs. Kara waits until they’re both in their pajamas and in bed before she broaches the subject she’s been thinking about since she saw Alex on the couch.

“What’s got you worried?” Kara asks.

“Worried?”

Kara rolls her eyes. “You only drink tea when you’re worried about something. Is it the Kryptonite? I thought the collection part was going well.”

“It is,” Alex says. “But I’m meeting with Lex tomorrow to talk about his private collection. The stuff lying around town we can just pick up and take. Can’t do that with private property.”

“Oh,” Kara says. “You think he won’t want to hand it over? Even knowing that it’s dangerous to humans?”

“He’ll have questions that I can’t answer. I don’t want to have to lie to him.”

“Oh,” Kara says again. She doesn’t know what to say to make Alex feel better. “Can someone else talk to him?”

“I think it’s best that I do. I’m just not looking forward to it.”

Kara finds her sister’s hand under the blankets and squeezes. “I’ll have brownies for you when you get home. Extra chocolatey.”

“Thanks,” Alex says before clicking their light out.

~*~

Alex is back from her meeting with Lex in time for dinner which means all five of them - Mr. and Mrs. Kent, Clark, Kara, and Alex all get to sit down at the table together. 

“Good news,” Alex says, taking a crescent roll from the basket before handing it to Kara. “Lex Luthor’s moving.”

Everyone stops what they’re doing to stare at her.

“Does that mean your meeting well really good or really bad?” Kara asks.

“It went well. It turns out he’s been studying the rocks himself, and when I told him that we’ve got labs even better than what he’s got he asked if he could be part of the research team.”

“Isn’t he like super rich?” Kara asks. “How are your labs better?” 

“It’s his dad’s money, and they don’t get along very well.”

Kara supposes that makes sense. “But how come he gets to be part of your super secret organization and I don’t?”

“I guess you’ll each have a secret to keep from each other,” Alex says. 

“Speaking of secrets,” Martha says.

“He doesn’t know about Kara or Clark,” Alex says. “I explained to him that we were bringing the rocks in because prolonged exposure can cause cancer, and he pointed out that there are some other side effects to them.”

“What kinds of side effects?” Martha asks.

“Humans gaining strange powers. They’ve seen some cases.”

“Why haven’t we heard about them?” Martha asks.

“Because no one wants to start a panic,” Alex answers. “Once we figure out how Kryptonite affects humans we’ll send in a medical team to do screenings of everyone who lives in Smallville to make sure no one’s sick or has any latent powers.”

“And Luthor?” Mr. Kent asks. “He’s got any of these powers?”

“If he did, I wouldn’t tell you,” Alex answers. “Lex will be announcing in the next few days that he’s stepping down from the creamed corn factory.”

“Lionel’ll just send someone even worse to replace him,” Mr. Kent says.

“Good for Lex,” Clark says, careful not to meet his dad’s eyes as he says it. “He should do something he actually wants to do.”

“Everyone should,” Kara says. 

Later, after the dishes are done, and they watch a couple old episodes of  _ Friends _ , Kara and Alex go up to their room.

“I can’t believe you liked a guy so much you got him a job with you,” Kara says when she comes back from brushing her teeth. “Most people just like Skype or something.”

Alex narrows her eyes, but it doesn’t stop the blush from rising on her cheeks. “That’s not what happened.”

“Uh huh.” Kara climbs into her bed and gives her sister her brightest most winningest smile. “And he said  _ yes _ . Which means he must really like you. You’re going to be like the Science Power Couple. The Nerdy Duo. The -”

“Stop it,” Alex says, but she’s laughing as she flops onto their bed. “We’ve only been on a few dates. And it’s weird now that we’re going to be working together. We’re just going to be friends.”

“Uh huh,” Kara says again. She doesn’t believe a word coming out of her sister’s mouth. 

“And it’s not like he’s been officially hired yet. My boss might say no.”

“You’d cry if he did,” Kara says.

“Would not.” Alex turns off the light. “I might be a little sad though.”

~*~

The rest of their time at the Kents’ flies by and before Kara knows it, she’s packed and ready to go home. Her only consolation is that Clark gets to come with them. And when he goes back home it’ll be time for Kara to go to college so she won’t even have any time to be sad.

Besides, they’re going to be best friends by the time Clark’s headed back to Smallville, and they’ll talk all the time even though they won’t be in the same place anymore.

Kara and Martha are baking muffins for the long drive back to Kara’s home the day before they have to leave. Alex is off helping Lex prep for his interview which Clark says means they’re kissing, but Kara knows her sister, and she thinks she might actually be giving Lex tips on how to impress her boss.

Sometimes Kara thinks she should study science or something so she can join the super secret group too. She’s grown up doing everything with Alex, and she doesn’t like that there’s now this thing they can’t do together. She wonders if that’s how Alex feels about Kara’s super powers.

“The fresh blueberries are key,” Martha says, tipping two cups of blueberries into their batter. “None of that canned crap.”

“I love blueberries,” Kara sighs. “Sometimes I’ll fly around the world just to try different kinds. Or to make sure I get fresh ones.”

“I’ve tried to get Clark to bake with me, but he doesn’t have the patience for it,” Martha says. “He has no problem picking the blueberries for me or spending months tending the garden so I’ve got perfect pumpkins to make pie with, but there’s something about being in the kitchen that makes him restless.”

“You’ve taught him other things,” Kara says, carefully spooning muffin batter into the muffin cups. “He’s very polite. And he’s always opening doors for people.”

“He is,” Martha agrees. “He’s a smart boy, but more than that he’s kind. That’s all I’ve ever wanted him to be, is a good, kind man.”

“He already is,” Kara says.

“I still can’t believe he’s in high school,” Martha says. “Before I know it he’s going to be in college or getting his first job. I’m starting to forget when he was little enough for me to pick up and carry. I certainly can’t do that anymore.” Martha wipes her forehead on her sleeve. “He still makes me Mother’s Day cards, you know. My favorite will still be the one he glued corn husks to to spell out ‘Happy Mother’s Day’. He better not use that heat vision you taught him to burn it. He’s embarrassed by it.”

“It’s the job of moms to embarrass their kids,” Kara says. “My mom tries really hard, but Alex says I have no shame so it doesn’t ever work.”

Martha laughs.

Kara thinks about Mother’s Day and all the plates she made in school for her mom and how Martha probably has a collection of plates Clark made too. She thinks about how awesome growing up with her mom and dad and Alex was and all the stories Clark’s told her about growing up on the farm.

“I’m glad you found Clark,” Kara says. “I used to spend a lot of time worrying about him. I was sent here to take care of him, you know, but I couldn’t find him, and I was so scared that something bad would happen to him or that he’d hate me or forget about me or something. But now that I’ve met you, I don’t need to worry anymore. Because you took care of Clark when I couldn’t, and I think you did a really good job.”

There are tears in Martha’s eyes as she puts down her spoon and pulls Kara in for a hug. “Oh, sweetie,” she says.

Kara hugs her back, careful not to squeeze too hard. “If you’re Clark’s mom does that mean I get to call you Aunt Martha?”

“Of course,” Martha tells her. “Clark’s family is my family.”

Kara feels a few tears of her own welling up. She’d come to Earth with no one, but she knew that somewhere there was a cousin waiting for her. She’d found a mom and a dad and a sister, and she’s even managed to find her cousin. She didn’t realize she’d be able to find even more family.

She feels a little spoiled, but she clings to Aunt Martha and dares the world to try and take her away. 


End file.
